SAN FRANCISCO - A jury split its verdict today for author and medical marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal on federal marijuana charges after a trial in which he offered no defense.

"If the jury had heard the whole truth, they would have acquitted me on all charges," said Rosenthal. "These laws are doomed. Science and compassion will win out over politics and superstition."

Rosenthal, 62, was found guilty of three federal felonies related to the cultivation and distribution of marijuana. On the charges related to the Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco, the jury found Rosenthal not guilty of cultivation and distribution and deadlocked on a conspiracy count. The U.S. Attorney's office dismissed the deadlocked count on the direction of the judge.

When it re-indicted Rosenthal in October 2006, the government brought nine additional charges related to financial transactions, but U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed them March 14 in a rare "vindictive prosecution" ruling, saying the government acted improperly.

The government was also thwarted in its attempt to compel members of the medical marijuana community to testify against Rosenthal. Seven witnesses rejected immunity letters from the U.S. Attorney's office and refused to answer questions, despite being found in contempt of court. The seven were excused Tuesday morning after again telling Judge Breyer that they would not testify.

"I think that this prosecution is against the will of the people, and it's actually harming the citizens of California." Said Debby Goldsberry, one of the seven. "I believe it would be illegal and immoral for me to participate in the prosecution because of that."

After his 2003 conviction, Rosenthal was sentenced to a single day in jail, with credit for time served. Both the judge and the prosecutor have said that Rosenthal can receive no additional jail time or fine with the new conviction, as Rosenthal has already completed the terms of his sentence, including three years of supervised release.

"The government gets medical marijuana convictions by cherry-picking juries and then preventing any meaningful defense," said Rosenthal attorney Rob Amparán. "When it comes to medical marijuana, our federal system of justice is broken."

As in the first trial in 2003, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled inadmissible and irrelevant the evidence and witnesses Rosenthal tried to introduce.

The jury did not hear that Rosenthal was deputized by the City of Oakland to provide medical marijuana and was in compliance with city regulations. Nor was testimony from then-City Councilmember Nate Miley (now an Alameda County Supervisor) allowed, though he had been permitted to take the stand in the first trial. Scientific testimony about the medical efficacy of marijuana and any discussion of the state law and local ordinances that Rosenthal was acting to implement were also excluded.

Following Rosenthal's January 2003 conviction, jurors in the case repudiated their verdict and criticized the court for not allowing them to hear the whole story. Rosenthal appealed that conviction and had it overturned last year because a juror sought outside legal advice prior to deliberations.

###